Kingdom Hearts

 PlayStation 2
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1277 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,103 out of 1277
  2. Mixed: 106 out of 1277
  3. Negative: 68 out of 1277
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  1. CharlotteBelmon
    Sep 4, 2023
    8
    For its first outing, Kingdom Hearts is a great game, and in a bubble, an amazing game of its era. Despite being one of, if not the weirdest mashups in gaming, Final Fantasy and Disney (although more leaning on the Disney side of things for the first game), Kingdom Hearts strangely works. The game, as well as its main original characters, strike a good balance between the two seeminglyFor its first outing, Kingdom Hearts is a great game, and in a bubble, an amazing game of its era. Despite being one of, if not the weirdest mashups in gaming, Final Fantasy and Disney (although more leaning on the Disney side of things for the first game), Kingdom Hearts strangely works. The game, as well as its main original characters, strike a good balance between the two seemingly clashing art and writing directions of its creators, with Disney's whimsy and childlike adventurousness and Final Fantasy taking care of the serious and more engaging parts of the story.

    Speaking of the story, the first game in the series is a lot lighter than the rest of the franchise, which came as a bit of a shock to me, as you always here horror stories about Kingdom Hearts' convoluted story, which is what made me pick up the 1.5 + 2.5 HD Collection on Ps4 (In case you're wondering, the HD remakes are the way to go with this game. Better graphics, more moves that make the game less frustrating and more fun). The story has main protagonist Sora going on an adventure with Disney's Donald and Goofy throughout various classic Disney films, such as Hercules, Peter Pan, Aladdin and more in order to find and save his friends Riku and Kairi, all of which were separated due to mysterious shadow monsters called the Heartless. On top of this, Sora can wield the magical Keyblade, a key shaped sword that can rid the Heartless for good. Like I said, its a lot simpler than the rest of the franchise, but it just about kept me interested until the end. Emphasis on the "just about", as the story tends to take a backseat during most of the Disney worlds, where Sora goes about helping the characters from the films in their on condensed story, some original to Kingdom Hearts, and some just straight up being the films they're based on. Its alright for a first game, but nothing ground-breaking or incredibly interesting until the later parts of the game.

    Gameplay-wise, the combat is quite fun. Sora can attack with his Keyblade in melee combat, or use it to cast classic Final Fantasy spells. This being said, I never really used the spells except for the first couple of times using them. This was when I realised that the offensive spells are very underwhelming, and not worth using when you could use your MP for healing or protective spells, or your time going up to the enemy and using the Keyblade. Melee is really the only way to go. There are also various summons you can use. Summons are unlockable moves where Sora calls upon a Disney character and they help out in the fight, such as Simba from the Lion King attack enemies with his roar, or Tinkerbell providing continuous healing. I used these moves every now and again, as they require having Donald and Goofy as party members, which means giving up having the Disney character from the world your in, which is a shame because they don't show up again after completing the world. As a whole, the gameplay is fine, just feels slightly dated in some parts.

    In conclusion, Kingdom Hearts is a game worth your time, and definitely a must play. While it pales in comparison to other games in the series, it still just about holds up today as a legendary start to a legendary franchise. Stick with the game and the series as a whole, and you'll find a new obsession that you will not regret.    … Expand
  2. Wargoz
    Sep 2, 2023
    8
    A true classic. One of my fondest gaming memories from when i was little. Still come back to it from time to time.
  3. APolChrome
    Aug 30, 2023
    9
    Qué bueno que es Kingdom Hearts. Ha sido una auténtica sorpresa en todos sus aspectos para bien. Hace todo tan bien que me parece una obra maestra. Que Disney cediera derechos de sus personajes para un RPG me parece genial, sobre todo si es para esto. Quiero hablar de muchas cosas del juego así que no pierdo más carácteres de Metacritic.

    El gameplay me parece genial. El sistema de    Qué bueno que es Kingdom Hearts. Ha sido una auténtica sorpresa en todos sus aspectos para bien. Hace todo tan bien que me parece una obra maestra. Que Disney cediera derechos de sus personajes para un RPG me parece genial, sobre todo si es para esto. Quiero hablar de muchas cosas del juego así que no pierdo más carácteres de Metacritic.

    El gameplay me parece genial. El sistema de combate es increíble, pareciendo simple al principio, pero siendo muy complejo en las partes finales del juego. Los hechizos son una locura y hay una variedad tremenda, aunque hay algunos que están destinados a coger polvo en ese menú, pero que pueden llegar a servir en ciertas ocasiones. Las habilidades (o no sé como llamarlas) añaden mucha variedad al gameplay, habiendo para ocasiones de todo tipo. Desde volteretas como en Dark Souls hasta poder ver la vida de los enemigos, pasando por añadir más golpes a tu secuencia o tener golpes devastadores al final de estas, hace que el gameplay se sienta diferente y al tener limitado el numéro de estas, añade un toque estratégico.

    Los mapas me han parecido muy buenos. La exploración en estos para el reducido tamaño de estos entá muy bien conseguida y sientes como si estuvieses en un mundo y no en un nivel más del juego. A esto le sumamos que cada uno tiene una mini historia acorde al universo del mismo y nos quedan unos mundos llenos de personalidad con los que podemos rememorar nuestra infancia. En estos también hay varios coleccionables, el más destacable los 99 cachorros dálmatas, que añaden una capa más a la exploración.

    Audiovisualmente es increíble. Pensar que este juego salió en 2002 (un año en el que ni siquiera había nacido) me parece una locura. Las animaciones, el estilo artístico de la animación de Disney llevado al videojuego... Todo es precioso en este juego. Y la OST es de las mejores que he escuchado nunca. Canciones que pueden ponerte la piel de gallina con solo escucharlas un momento. En este aspecto, el juego es un 10.

    La historia de este juego me ha encantado. Sobre todo porque no se han limitado por ser Disney la otra mitad. Es una historia que habla sobre temas muy complejos y que tiene muchos giros muy inesperados. Empieza siendo una aventura de 3 amigos, y termina siendo un viaje memorable que termina en salvar al mundo. Mis dieces para los escritores de la historia del juego.

    En resumen, Kingdom Hearts me parece una obra maestra con un nivel de pulido increíble en todos y cada uno de sus aspectos. Nomura habrá tenido algunos errores en su carrera, pero cuando quiere, nos demuestra que puede crear obras maestras. Debes jugarlo.    … Expand
  4. VLG
    Aug 22, 2023
    10
    A game I will never forget. I loved this so much as a teen, every moment is ingrained in my memory.
  5. PR9Gaming
    Aug 12, 2023
    9
    Pretty sure this game spawned the soulslike genre from the simple question of "what if an entire game was like the Sephiroth fight?".
  6. lizardkingg
    Jul 21, 2023
    10
    Easily one of the best PS2 games of all time. Great story, revolutionary gameplay, & incredibly creative blend of the Disney/Final Fantasy worlds.
  7. Gonyaestaba
    Jul 20, 2023
    8
    Despite the fact that Kingdom Hearts is one of my favorite games, it is undeniable to say that it has some flaws such as the camera that sometimes does not work quite right, another flaw is the script which is good for the game but compared to the following games it is much simpler than the following although despite these flaws that I have just mentioned, it does not mean that you do notDespite the fact that Kingdom Hearts is one of my favorite games, it is undeniable to say that it has some flaws such as the camera that sometimes does not work quite right, another flaw is the script which is good for the game but compared to the following games it is much simpler than the following although despite these flaws that I have just mentioned, it does not mean that you do not have fun with this game and also note that there are many details… Expand
  8. Magikcarp
    Jul 19, 2023
    6
    Gameplay - 7
    Plot & Characters - 5
    Storytelling - 3
    Pacing - 6
    Music & Sound - 9
    Replayability - 5
    Performance - 10
  9. Sylictic
    Jul 8, 2023
    9
    Mixing disney and final fantasy together with an original storyline and characters that melt your heart. A compelling story about friendship and forgiveness coupled with one of the most innovative combat systems seen in gaming at this point. Future entries expand on what is begun here but make no mistake this is a fantastic video game that will delight any age for hours.
  10. someone78374823
    Jul 3, 2023
    0
    Kingdom Hearts is nothing more than an extremely generic JRPG with Disney IPs plus some final fantasy characters copy pasted in. This is one of the most stupid and toxic fandoms on the entire internet. The reason why this game is so popular is because it's just collective nostalgia goggles of being the only Disney game where you can play out big scenes from Disney movies in a video gameKingdom Hearts is nothing more than an extremely generic JRPG with Disney IPs plus some final fantasy characters copy pasted in. This is one of the most stupid and toxic fandoms on the entire internet. The reason why this game is so popular is because it's just collective nostalgia goggles of being the only Disney game where you can play out big scenes from Disney movies in a video game format. Because there are so many IPs from the different Disney movies, you exponentially get idiot fans from them all at once giving you the most amount of nostalgia points.

    Bosses are just "die a few times until you figure it out". This is not good game design, it just pads out the game needlessly. Thanks to this being a Square game, bosses have multiple forms which means another "die" point where they do something new. Usually it's an attack that kills you in one hit so, have fun watching the cutscene and starting over again. Diehard KH losers will tell you that this is part of the "experience". If you're playing on an emulator, use save states to make KH losers mad. You know for sure this was a bad decision because they re-made the game several times and added a skip cutscene feature, but KH idiots still defend it.

    You cannot open your menu to change equipment during boss battles. All this does is pad out the game with pointless deaths. Bosses have nonsensical abilities, a great example is Ursula who is underwater but she uses lightning? Once you figure that out you can equip lightning protection stuff but again, there's no way to know that beforehand and you just waste a boss run to find that out. You can't change equipment in battle and there's a lot of bosses that are like this, ie they are impossible or take a very long time unless you "know" in advance. Again, your average KH idiot has played through this game so many times and has forgotten this. Spending 20+ years to cope with how bad the game is designed and claiming it's "part of the experience" is not a valid argument to say the game is "good", that means it is "bad".

    Oh so very many of the worlds just suck. The entire Atlantica world sucks very bad. The entire place has one texture and they draw yellow arrows to try to tell you where to go - again, very bad game design. Everything looks the same and you get lost very quick. Even people who've played through this game 5 times get lost here. Monstro (Pinnochio's World) is similar but not as bad in this regard. Atlantica has the infamous dolphin kick ability which is extremely janky and stupid and gets in the way more than it helps you for one boss fight where you need it. Tarzan's world completely sucks and so does Wonderland and they are smack right at the beginning of the game to really put you off.

    The game is chock full of jank. Tarzan's vines are jank, jumping on any kind of moving platform is jank, targeting is jank, the fire spell is jank, the menu is dumb. Why do they limit you to 3 spells in the quick cast menu when you have a controller full of buttons? The answer to that is again to make bosses a one way death experience, to pad out the game some more when the solution was to assign a necessary spell to quick cast. Again KH losers tell you this is part of the experience.

    The entire Gummi Ship thing was pointless and 100% unnecessary. Again, more padding out of the game, and they even knew it too before it was released - the entire Gummi Ship blueprint thing is entirely unnecessary.

    The game flips its difficulty much too quickly. There is a certain point in the game where you get a few critical spells which essentially constantly refill your resources. Before you get these spells the game is incredibly difficult (at least on the hard difficulty), because every boss is walking on eggshells where one hit can take you from max health to death, completely skipping the health alert stage. After you get these spells, you essentially cannot be killed but bosses just take way too long.

    The tech system makes you feel like an idiot because it only works when you are swinging cluelessly. Sora's attack has a lag and isn't instant. Most of the time you are trying to learn a boss' pattern, and because Sora's swing isn't instant, you have to essentially take a guess and miss a lot and then take hits to the face. Seriously, 90% of the time when I did a tech it was on accident, so I started button mashing like a noob and then I started getting tech after tech.

    The central story is absolutely an afterthought ie, the main focus of the game was making the nostalgia goggles as thick as possible with the Disney IPs. It's something they made up in the space of a couple days. Just getting on youtube there are all these fan videos "attempting" to explain the story between games - my explanation video would go something like this: "They made it up in a day to get you to not focus on the fact there is nothing tying all these worlds together".

    Very overrated.    … Expand
  11. MacArron23
    May 15, 2023
    8
    Nostalgia User, as good as i remembered
    ......................................
  12. AJCk19
    Apr 30, 2023
    9
    This is what every action rpg should inspire to be. Kingdom Hearts is like the smash bros of action rpgs. You get KH characters, Square Enix characters, and Disney characters in one shabang.

    Get ready for a cliffhanger and tears though.
  13. SideOrderoLemon
    Apr 24, 2023
    9
    One of the most versatile action rpgs of that generation, Kingdom Hearts breathes fresh life into the genre setting a standard for those to come even today. A magical combination of Final Fantasy and Disney may sound ridiculous but mixes fluidly in the context of the game. Kingdom Hearts is filled to the brim with charm and whimsy and brings out the kid in anyone. The story of KingdomOne of the most versatile action rpgs of that generation, Kingdom Hearts breathes fresh life into the genre setting a standard for those to come even today. A magical combination of Final Fantasy and Disney may sound ridiculous but mixes fluidly in the context of the game. Kingdom Hearts is filled to the brim with charm and whimsy and brings out the kid in anyone. The story of Kingdom Hearts has become an absolute joke nowadays, but the first game has a pretty fun and exciting story, in some places anyway. To say this game is without flaw is to deny it of its charm, and makes it more appreciative the longer time goes to where the controls feel like it was just released weeks ago. If you ever get a chance, definitely pick up the HD Remix.… Expand
  14. geo333
    Apr 21, 2023
    7
    This game is the second kingdom hearts i played and its feel small compare to the rest of the games of the series but knowing it was the beginning i give it a pass, overall a good start to a successful franchise and music as well.
  15. zasaz13
    Apr 16, 2023
    9
    Good game, with a good history, immersed in a Disney world which makes it more passionate. The mechanical could be boring, and some bosses are difficult considering it for a kid's game
  16. MNNice
    Mar 24, 2023
    7
    Really fun game. Definitely has its flaws. Kingdom Hearts is an Action-Adventure RPG set in the worlds of Disney settings and characters while also mixing in with some Final Fantasy characters.
    I had a ton of fun with this game. Some abilities I never used. I love that you get different "Keyblades". The story is kinda corny with it's "friends forever and friends do anything for each other    Really fun game. Definitely has its flaws. Kingdom Hearts is an Action-Adventure RPG set in the worlds of Disney settings and characters while also mixing in with some Final Fantasy characters.
    I had a ton of fun with this game. Some abilities I never used. I love that you get different "Keyblades". The story is kinda corny with it's "friends forever and friends do anything for each other and we will be evil with the power of FRIENDSHIP".
    If you can I'd play this on the KH 1.5+2.5 ReMIX. Basically remastered for PS4 & Xbox One.
    7.3/10    … Expand
  17. ReviewsAreBS
    Feb 26, 2023
    10
    While combat mechanics aren’t very deep, the intricate level design and semi-coherent story make this the best in the series. The soundtrack and visuals are legendary, I don’t really need to say much more.

    It was the best use of Disney IPs in a video game when I first played it 20+ years ago and that remains true to this day.
  18. Unemportant
    Feb 9, 2023
    8
    One of my first games and it still holds up as an absolute classics. Say what you will about the series it clearly started out pretty strong.
  19. ND-Bringer
    Feb 1, 2023
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The incredible Disney movie crossover, adventure series has brought a lot of joy to people over the years. Though while looking back at the original version of the first game, things didn't exactly start with rainbows and gumdrops. While adjusting to the original controls, I now noticed how polished the sequel really was. Kingdom Hearts One is a fine game and all, but a little dated nowadays, regarding the level design.

    Compared to Kingdom Hearts 2, the levels feel more cramped and uncomfortable to explore, making platforming a little awkward at times. For instance, in the Tarzan level, it's really easy to get lost with all the similar looking jungle terrain. It's really easy to miss platforms with the stiff control and lid you fall down from the tree tops, you have walk all the way back to try again.

    I can't be too upset, after all it was the first Kingdom Hearts game, and the majority of the popular issues were already fixed years ago in the sequels. But for all those players who have never played the first game before, you're in for a tricky time. This game, for being a rated E game, its incredibly difficult. Not unfair, but a little uncomfortable for less experienced players. The heartless are constantly on the hunt for you, filling up large rooms hoping to swarm you.

    Make sure to stock up on plenty of potions for all your party to use, because if you try to rush through levels, their's a good a chance you'll get destroyed by a surprise attack. And its also really easy to get hit in water and sky boss fights, so if you're going for a reckless approach in your battles, you need to be ready to recover from those wounds.

    I say this because I still recommend this game and I want players to enjoy it despite its problems. The story and cutscenes are really cute, with Sora being a great goofball protagonist. The lore is very interesting, reading Ansem's report is like diving into the mind of a soon to be mad scientist. The returning Disney movie voice actors add a nice layer of icing to the cake. Playing these games is still a great way to revisit old favorite films from childhood.

    After all these years later, I'd never thought I would still be playing Winnie the Pooh video games. It's kind of funny to know that Pooh Bear and Sephiroth exist in the same game. Together at last. I doubt I'll be revisiting this game for a while though. The automatic losing battles against Leon and Cloud, are a little annoying, first time players would have no idea whether or not they were supposed to give up during these fights. In game where the main message is to never give up hope.

    And the final boss fight against Ansem, wow. Is it a cold slap in the face, followed by a swift kick to the stomach. Thematically it's really cool, plenty of sinister eye candy for the big clash against the organizer of evil. Though I recommend Sora learns the Magic Point Rage Skill before taking on this challenge. So every time he takes a huge amount of damage he can respond my recovering with the Restore spell. I almost despised this final battle though thanks to the second phase. Ansem is almost impossible to avoid, Donald and Goofy can't support you, worst of all is that Ansem's Dark Guardian can grab Sora and cancel his attacks. I really don't appreciate boss fights that feel this restricting.

    However I don't despise this game, I was still motivated to see it to the end despite these issues. And it's all thanks to the sense of drive. I like these characters, the battle system is engaging, and the story is very entertaining. It's thanks to these elements that I care about trying again. Compare this game to modern action roleplaying games like Yo Kai Watch Blasters.

    Blasters has a boring story, with lots of lifeless cutscenes to explain the plot. The gameplay gets repetitive fast, the characters are obnoxious, and the ending feels pretty stale compared to previous games in the core series games. Kingdom Hearts does the opposite and ensures that even if the experience isn't perfect, the adventure itself still leaves an impact on its players.    … Expand
  20. TeemoTime
    Jan 31, 2023
    9
    As soon as I saw Final Fantasy x Disney, I hoped on that good stuff faster than the speed of light. Simple plot compared to the rest of the series, a great first JRPG for people who don't like JRPGs.
  21. aaronnmp96
    Jan 31, 2023
    9
    Crazy that they mix Disney and Square characters and it works, the video game
  22. Jattaman
    Jan 8, 2023
    6
    Storia simpatica, splendida l'idea di unire i mondi Disney e Square. Purtroppo il gameplay dei combattimenti risulta piuttosto limitato e superficiale, e le sezioni platform piuttosto "legnose".
    C'è da dire che l'ho giocato molti anni dopo la sua uscita, e questo sicuramente influisce sul giudizio. Diciamo che non è invecchiato bene.
    Gioco non terminato.
  23. ZangBang
    Oct 30, 2022
    6
    65/100
    Kingdom Hearts is a charming videogame. A unique, whimsical epic tale of friendship, heroes and darkness. Its strength isn't a complex storyline but a cast of great characters with heartfelt interactions and a strong emotional core, enhanced by an enchanting soundtrack that expertly blends solemnity and magical whimsy, giving the game a distinct personality. Combat is fun and    65/100
    Kingdom Hearts is a charming videogame. A unique, whimsical epic tale of friendship, heroes and darkness. Its strength isn't a complex storyline but a cast of great characters with heartfelt interactions and a strong emotional core, enhanced by an enchanting soundtrack that expertly blends solemnity and magical whimsy, giving the game a distinct personality. Combat is fun and satisfying thanks to Abilities, frequently adding new layers and variables to combos, a balanced, diversified Magic system that offers various different ways to approach a fight both offensive and defensive, and last but not least a great enemy variety, although a bosses are of extremely fluctuating quality: some great, others very plain. Level Design smartly works around the modest size of its rooms with rewarding level design with a lot of depth and variety. Every new area has a simple but pleasantly distinct type of progression with different maps, puzzles, platforming challenges and many hidden secrets that add content and flavor to the exploration. The presence of many secret bosses after the main campaign offers an additional great challenge for the more daring players. The weakest point of the experience are definitely the sections piloting the spaceship called Gummiship: a very cute idea to add variety, but so slow and tedious that it would've been better to just put that development effort somewhere else.    … Expand
  24. RenTheJoker
    Aug 29, 2022
    10
    Kingdom Hearts is one of the video games of all time. Don’t change my mind.
  25. FireBroFilms
    Aug 15, 2022
    6
    ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎
  26. Domdom21br
    Aug 7, 2022
    7
    eu não gosto tanto desse kingdom hearts, prefiro o 2, porém não faz feio embora não faça nada de espetacular igual ao 2 além de que eu prefiro a jogabilidade do 2 e do birth by sleep mas esse jogo me deixou feliz
  27. Mr_Fish
    Jun 15, 2022
    8
    even on a first playthrough there's something about this game that just feels nostalgic
  28. Diaboliste
    Jun 4, 2022
    8
    the best game ps2 graphics good level design good scenario taking a secret cutscene for regular players too bad there are only disney worlds and not final fantasy
  29. jacktwelve
    May 29, 2022
    9
    Absolute classic of a game. For a 20 year game it trully held up to the test of time. With its epic boss fights, Cool attack animations, Memorable story, godtier music. Whats not to love.
  30. Denderotto
    May 6, 2022
    9
    Playing this game for the first time is a incredible experience, especially if you already are a fan of Disney and Final Fantasy; there was nothing like this before. Some problems such as the platforming sections and the bad camera makes me not give a bigger score, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a big experience that started a fantastic franchise.
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Awards & Rankings

21
#21 Best PS2 Game of 2002
2
#2 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2002
5
#5 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2002

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 46 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 46
  3. Negative: 0 out of 46
  1. Game Informer
    95
    The battles that unfold are as beautful as they are intense, and as difficult as they are easy to manhandle. [Oct 2002, p.76]
  2. Play Magazine
    80
    To say that Kingdom Hearts is magical is an understatement. As cinematic experiences go, it's exquisite. It's not the finest in terms of action, but overall, it's wonderful. [Oct 2002, p.74]
  3. GameZone
    91
    Has a few flaws, but its unique character pairings and jaw-dropping graphics make this a remarkable RPG.
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